A blog by ©hinaman:

cricket had been losing its ethos for a long while
but I do not accept it has been tainted by the events of Lahore 3/3

it was not a fault
nor a weakness
nor any dishonourable act of dishonesty on its part that brought this on cricket

on the contrary,
the Sri Lankans should be applauded for their brave gesture
to tour a cricket playing nation in mark of solidarity when others were pulling out

Pakistan – the state of the nation

for a long while
I have been reading/studying this cauldron of politics/military/religion that is Pakistan
what steams out of the cauldron is terrorism
- one can go as far back as you wish to dig and find when and where it started.

terrorism that originates in and from Pakistan
cannot be isolated from its administration – both the military and also the elected

Lahore terror attack: the unanswered questions

From Times Online | March 5, 2009

1. Why was the Pakistani team delayed?
2. Given it was delayed, was the security escort split between the two teams (Pakistan and Sri Lanka)?
3. How many police vehicles and officers were protecting the Sri Lankan team when it was attacked?
4. Why were the police unable to kill or capture any of the gunmen?
5. If the teams were promised presidential level security (jamming devices, bullet-proof vehicles etc), why was it not provided?

Murali has raised a point that echoes what I wrote yesterday,
this was a planned ambush -
the CCTV footage, the description of events from Chris Broad – Sri Lankan players proves it

it was NOT GOOD LUCK that the Pakistan team left late
it was NOT BAD LUCK that the Sri Lankan team became the target
this was a planned set up
SOMEONE in administration KNEW there would be an ambush -
the Pakistan team was held back – the Sri Lankan team and the officials driven into it -
to almost certain death
that is not negligence – that is a CRIME

it was sheer GOOD LUCK
that the bullets missed the driver
and the grenade thrown under the bus was mistimed to roll out the other side
or the entire Sri Lankan team would have been blown to smithereens

in the past I have argued that any cricket team visiting pakistan would be safer than playing in their own country – I believed they would indeed be given “presidential style security”.
it would be the best Pakistani troops on guard.

there was none, it is not laughable
it makes me angry for it was DELIBERATE
and for having being proved to be moronically wrong

Pakistan invited Sri Lanka as a friend nation and promised security.
to go and help that friend in the face of the warnings was truly an honorable gesture

when it comes to the importance of a nation proving to the world they are a stable sovereign nation there was no difference in their status from a visiting head of state
this Sri Lankan team deserved a “presidential style security”

The Talibans and Al Qaeda

now, all of a sudden everyone
“knows there are elements of the ISI in bed with the Talibs”
but nobody has the courage to say so;
and not just some elements of ISI, it was them that created the Talibs and the LeT

unless it is said – it gives everyone a false sense of security,
they believe these “islamic terrorists” are an extraneous factor – which they are NOT.

Reg Dickason

Reg Dickason as a “security expert”
if he knew it he had to say it loud for the whole world to hear
if he did not he failed his responibility and his opinion is worthless

the Sri Lankan players had to have a say in this
yet they were happy to go and some say they are happy to go again.
why would they do that if this Reg Dickason has advised if they go
they will be “sitting ducks” to the terrorists?

so did he or did he not spell this out?

the problem can never be the Sri Lankan’s accepting the invite
the problem is because of Pakistan NOT giving the security that they had promised
and to let a planned ambush go ahead inspite of having warnings
and if my speculations are correct – with the nod of someone in the power heirarchy
it is CRIMINAL

Cricket

Cricket, the sport, must go on – has to go on
for the entire cricket playing and loving worldwide community it represents
honesty and fairplay
to stop would be a victory for terrorism
but to separate cricket from real life -
to split them apart as two different realities is escapism

we are angry now because some individuals died in the name of cricket
these same terror groups have been killing individuals for standing up for human rights

so Pakistan will suffer
but that is a price they have to pay for letting their nation come to this
till they STOP DENYing that parts of their administration and terrorism are interlinked

South African cricket / cricketers / cricket lovers could not have all been racists,
they spent years in wilderness for reasons non cricket

there has to be a change in how Pakistan functions as a nation
this is their wake up call – they have to remain in isolation till they do wake up.

I shall forever criticise the Pakistanis for letting this happen
I shall applaud the Sri Lankan

pakistan©hinaman

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